Personally, JBT proved to be a hassle for me. Its okay to be listed,but being rated was a whole other story. I was very well rated, andevery salseman that passed thru my town, would look in their book andsee that I was well rated for credit, and of course , they would stopin, unscheduled, to sell me something. Alot of days, I would have asmany as 5-7 sales reps come in, besides the reps that I regularly didbusiness with. And , like any good salesman should be, they were verygood at not taking no for an answer. Just the time it took to tellthem all no was a major time waster. Unless you have a major barrierbetween you and and them, like several good employees, JBT may proveto be more than you bargained for. I personally cannot afford tospend the time necessary to handle them all. Besides, most vendorsare only looking for credit references, especially references withintheir product line. Even personal credit references are useful. Ifyour personal refs aren't that sparkly, you probably have no businessgetting trade credit anyway. Build your credit history by startingwith someone who will give you a small credit line, then another, andanother. Any vendor who insists on a JBT # to do business with you isprobably not the ones that a newby should be dealing with. There areloads of good companies, with quality lines, that are more than happyto work with a newby.

In addition, they always wanted me to fill out financial papers inDecember, when I didn't even have time to #%@*. That never made alotof sense to me, since they are part of an industry that lives anddies by the December figures. They should fully understand where ourpriorities lay in that month , especially.

If you're looking to develop credit accounts in the trade, a JBTnumber and a good rating will open doors for you. Some salespeopleuse JBT's book to solicit their product. If you don't wantsalespeople showing up at your door you can request that they notlist you in the book.

But, if you go that route you will have trouble with those who onlyuse the book. For example, every year I go to the Tucson AGTA showI have to bring invoices and business because I'm notlisted in the book. If they called JBT they'd find my number, butthey only go by what's actually in the book.

The initial paperwork that they make you file is somewhatintimidating, but the reps at JBT have always been quite helpfuland professional to me. Good luck.

From this small vendor's point of view, it is nice to see a company
or client listed in the JBT when sending out memos. However not all
vendors have access to JBT since it costs a good sum of

money to receive. It is equally or even more confidence inspiring to
receive the names of a few mutally known references who will verify a
persons integrity. If someone calls me and wants goods on memo it is
very helpful if they know some other gem dealers that I know. For me
in my business, credit card guarranties also work for memos in the
absence of personal references or JBT listings .

I have been LISTED with JBT since I started my business in 1983, butnot RATED. I chose not to give them my 'financials.'

I have never felt the need to join the organization, as no supplierhas ever demanded that. I always just give them references tosuppliers with whom I have a good 'record.' (Thank goodness, that isall of my suppliers.)

If your a 1 rated account I will open a 30 day term account for youon the spot. If your a 3, 4 or non rated account I need a personalquarantee. JBT needs all that info because they check your vendorson how you pay and what you owe. If you pay your bills who careswhat they ask for. For those of us that extend credit this serviceis the difference between getting paid and receiving chapter 11letters.

This is a true statement. When I worked for a display company thesalesman used the JBT book where ever they traveled to findpotential customers. You really do not need the JBT. All you needare a few (at least three) good trade references. There are somecompanies that have their noses crammed so far in the book and can'tsee beyond that. Like my former employer really did not want to giveCharles and Colvard any credit because there were not JBT and theywas D&B listed and all the references they gave nothing to do withthe trade. They had plenty of money in the bank though, so they gavethem terms.

The only part of JBT that is good is when you are starting out likemyself it shows vendors that you really are in the trade and areserious.

From a supplier perspective, what we use the JBT for is as animportant reference in extending open credit terms to customers. It's not the only criteria we use, but when a customer is JBT ratedwe have a higher confidence level, which leads to faster creditapproval and frequently to higher credit limits. They do require alot of confidential so you have to be confident that thebenefit -- say, of getting the faster/higher credit -- will offsetthe downside of offering private